Chelsea have been identified as one of several clubs keeping tabs on Atlético Madrid striker Julián Alvarez ahead of the summer window. According to the Daily Mail, Alvarez is listed among attacking targets as Chelsea pursue both a midfielder and an attacking player.

Atlético paid £81.8 million ($109.7 million) to sign Alvarez from Manchester City in the summer of 2024. Over the subsequent 18 months the Argentina international has recorded 40 goals in 84 appearances for Atlético, a return that has intensified interest in his future.

Paris Saint-Germain are named alongside Chelsea as suitors, but Barcelona are reported to pose the most significant threat to Atlético’s hold on the forward. SPORT report that Alvarez sits high on Barcelona’s wish list as the club assess options to succeed Robert Lewandowski.

Lewandowski will turn 38 in August and, while he remains productive with nine goals in 15 La Liga games this season, Barcelona have been conscious for some time that planning for a replacement will be required. An ambitious proposal involving Manchester City’s Erling Haaland has been floated in wider coverage, but Alvarez is consistently mentioned as a principal candidate to fill the longer-term striking need at Barcelona.

A transfer for Alvarez would be costly. Estimates place the fee in the region of €100 million ($116.4 million). SPORT add that Barcelona are not presently in a position to complete such an operation as they continue to work towards complying with La Liga’s 1:1 spending rules.

With Atlético’s sizeable outlay to recruit Alvarez barely two years old, any approach this summer would be closely scrutinised. Chelsea’s inclusion on lists of interested clubs underlines the degree to which Alvarez’s recent form has attracted attention across Europe. The coming weeks and months will determine whether dialogue between interested parties progresses into concrete offers for one of the more prominent forwards linked with a move this summer.

Barcelona want to keep Marcus Rashford beyond the end of his current loan, according to recent reports, with the club exploring options to register him for the 2026–27 season. Rashford has become a meaningful contributor this term, the first male England international to play for Barcelona since Gary Lineker in the 1980s, and has recorded seven goals and eight assists across all competitions. Only two team-mates, Lamine Yamal and Fermín López, have produced better returns.

The forward initially benefited from injuries within Barcelona’s frontline but is not an automatic starter when the squad is fully available. He was among the substitutes when Hansi Flick’s side thumped Athletic Club in the Spanish Super Cup semi-final, and he was not expected to be included from the first whistle in Sunday’s final against Real Madrid.

Reports say the loan contains a release clause of €30 million (£26 million, $34.9 million). The coverage does not explicitly state Barcelona will trigger that clause, only that the club want Rashford on the books beyond this season. How Barcelona proceed may involve negotiation over price or further temporary measures given their strict financial constraints. As Flick put it: “The truth is, the club can’t pay hundreds of millions for a new player, like other teams, so we have to be smart with our players.”

Rashford’s preference to remain in Spain is clear. “Of course, what I want is to stay at Barça.”

At Manchester United, attitudes appear unchanged despite changes in coaching personnel. Amorim may have been the one to drop Rashford before the first Manchester derby of the 2024–25 season and never give him another minute for United. He is also reported to have said he would rather name his 63-year-old goalkeeping coach Jorge Vital on the bench instead of Rashford, and Rashford was banned from United’s training ground until the coach had left for the day during the summer window. The Athletic claims that “United as a club” shared the coach’s desire for “more application” from Rashford.

Barcelona’s apparent interest and the player’s own wishes create a negotiated path that both clubs will need to navigate before the loan expires in June.

Reports linking Xavi Hernández to Manchester United have some basis, but the momentum appears to be coming chiefly from the coach rather than the club.

A first full season in charge at Barcelona delivered the Spanish Super Cup and the 2022–23 La Liga crown ahead of a Real Madrid side led by Karim Benzema. The tensions beneath that success then surfaced in the next campaign, which ended without a trophy and finished with Xavi relieved of his duties.

According to Fabrizio Romano, Xavi is “ready” to return to management, “would love to take a job in the Premier League” and is “very open” to the Manchester United opportunity created by Ruben Amorim’s departure. The same report also stressed that “nothing advanced” and “nothing concrete” has arisen between the club and Xavi.

Xavi’s return to Barcelona was presented as a restoration of a long tradition. As Pep Guardiola put it, “Johan Cruyff painted the chapel,” Guardiola once mused. “And Barcelona coaches since merely restore or improve it.” With just a little more than two years coaching in Qatar on his résumé, Xavi made clear his commitment to possession football: “We cannot lose our ‘house style,’” he declared. “That’s the thing which has made the club great.”

During his two full seasons as Barcelona boss, the team averaged 64% possession in La Liga, but sustained penetration was often lacking. The 2022–23 title owed as much to Robert Lewandowski converting half-chances as to a tight defence. Half of Barcelona’s league wins in that period were by a single-goal margin and 1–0 was the most common scoreline.

Xavi himself acknowledged the frustrations: “I lose my patience because I see the pass but what I think should happen doesn’t happen,” he admitted shortly before announcing his decision to quit in January 2024. The hierarchy persuaded him to stay, confirming that decision in April, and his dismissal was revealed in May. He often said that “Barcelona is the most difficult club to manage in the world.”

As ex-United defender Gary Neville noted on Sky Sports, “Barcelona will never change for anybody,” he told Sky Sports. “I don’t believe United should change for anybody. The club has to find a manager who has got experience and who’s willing to play fast, entertaining, attacking and aggressive football.” Given the current picture, any move for Xavi would require careful thought on both sides.